Freakn' Cougar Read Free

worried that the close quarters of prison will reveal our secret?”
    “A theory we pondered, except, in some cases, the prisoners had been there more than ten years without anyone catching wind of their secret. No matter their reasoning, they don’t have the right to kill.”
    “How come we haven’t heard of this?” Stu’s father broached.
    “It only recently came to light. The deaths were spread out among various institutions and took place over the past two years. As well, most were classed as accidents or suicide. It wasn’t until recently that we caught on to the pattern.”
    “How many have died?”
    Patricia’s lips flattened into a straight line. “More than thirty-seven by our count.”
    Chaos once again erupted as shouts of “How could no one notice?” and “Who’s responsible?” fired at the cougar from all directions.
    Stu ignored his mother’s awesome pie to mull over the little they’d learned so far. The one thing Patricia had yet to explain was how he tied into the whole affair. Stu certainly wasn’t the killer they were seeking. Nor was he a victim or related to one. As the yelling continued all around him, he mulled Patricia’s presence until he had his “Aha!” moment.
    “Am I getting paid for you to use me as bait?” His query arrowed through the din and resulted in utter silence, a few dropped jaws, and shocked, wide-open eyes.
    Of course, the quiet didn’t last more than two seconds before the noise got even worse than before with Naomi practically crawling over the table determined to rearrange Patricia’s face and thinking. In Naomi’s world, only she was allowed to abuse her brothers. It was nice to be loved.
    But Naomi wasn’t the only one weighing in on the situation. Chris shouted advice about not dropping the soap while his mother declared they’d use him over her dead body. As for his dad? From under bushy brows, he just glared all around.
    Given the varying opinions and shouting, was it any wonder Stu found himself desperate to escape so he could think? On second thought, why couldn’t he?
    He slunk from the room and exited to his backyard. Hands in his pockets, he peered at the stars, which shone brightly in the clear night sky.
    Despite Patricia not getting a true chance to answer him, dangling him as bait or using him to ferret out information from the inside were the only things that made sense. They needed Stu to catch a killer. Why or how they expected him to help, he couldn’t have said. He possessed no training that would aid in an investigation, nothing legal at any rate. But, if they were looking for someone who knew how to hack a firewall or dig up information on a computer hard drive, intel thought deleted or buried, well, he wasn’t known as the sneaky wolf in hacking circles for nothing.
    But why the arresting ruse? Why not just come out and ask him?
    His absence from the dinner table didn’t go unnoticed; however, it wasn’t his family who came looking for him. Her scent enveloped him, and awareness spiked through his frame, tingling along his nerve endings and making his heart race faster.
    She’s here. His wolf practically pranced in delight. Out here in the fresh air, he could inhale her sweet aroma and know without a doubt that, yes, she was meant for him. But how did one broach that topic with an almost virtual stranger? Somehow, saying, “Hey, honey, my wolf wants to take a bite,” seemed a tad forward. He’d gotten enough slaps over the years to know most women did not appreciate the honest and direct approach. Unlike his brothers, he sucked at flirting. Was it any wonder he preferred to spend his time in front of a computer screen?
    “I wondered if you’d run,” she said, breaking the silence.
    “I thought about it.”
    “Why didn’t you?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t understand what you want me for, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to take the cowardly route and bolt before I find out.”
    “You know enough by now that if you